


sea salt ice cream

by SymphonySoldierXIII



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/F, Lots of Cursing, M/M, and a younger sister, and add warnings/etc as they become relevant, aqua has a last name, ill tag ships/characters as they appear, it's still in the intro stages though so bear with me, mega lesbian kairi, so the tags are, soriku fluff, very dark descriptions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-09-17 21:46:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9347672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SymphonySoldierXIII/pseuds/SymphonySoldierXIII
Summary: if you thought kingdom hearts was confusing then hoo boy its about to get at least 20 times worseor, i love writing ocs and alternate story endings a bit too much





	1. prologue, part 1: unbreakable chains

**Author's Note:**

> ok hi hey i promise i'll make this quick
> 
> thanks for choosing my fic!! it's a little confusing here at the beginning, but i promise the first chapter is just for aesthetic and the story starts soon. the fic as a whole takes place just after dream drop distance, and includes seven ocs (only three of which are really main characters) who will be introduced throughout the story. i've been working on this idea for over a year, so even if it seems confusing, or you don't really like how it's going, please just give it a chance - beginnings can be hard to write, but once i get past that it'll be much easier and smoother and hopefully better. so here we go- i give you, "sea salt ice cream", which is basically my child because of how long I've been working on it. i hope you like it!

i. The world's core pulsated, pumping dark energy throughout the inner matter of the planet. Slowly, slowly, slowly the waves of darkness rose to the surface. The world's heart was made of darkness, the same darkness that sealed its fate.

ii. Darkness. Nothing but darkness. The shadowy forms of those who lost their light rose from the ground, slithering after the one whose light might save them but never would.

iii. It was like waking from a deep sleep. Like fitting the last piece of a puzzle right into the center. Like becoming who you were truly meant to be. It was the beginning of the end.

iv. Walking, walking, walking down empty hallways and endless staircases painted over the blood of the fallen. Far below the surface, a cloak finally reached its destination. Voices cried out — desperate for help, desperate for light, desperate for anything but darkness. But the crossed chain guards wouldn't allow it as they followed the cloak's almighty command. Voices cried out again, this time silenced by the void that the cloak left in its wake.

v. A beating heart lay on its reverse — dead, cold, steel. Wisps of darkness swarmed the cavity, sealed in by the foreign lace in the flesh. The darkness threatened escape, but instead took hold on the host and at once the screaming stopped. Silence, silence, silence, until the first breath.

vi. A blade stuck in the rocky ground, hundreds of thousands of others like it stuck there as well. Frozen in time. Frozen in place. All it takes is a little spark to lift the spirit out into the world to walk among the frozen blades that were once their comrades.

vii. She could see them. They didn't see her, much less remember her. She couldn't speak, couldn't move, only see. Tick, tock, time passing, the clock tower moved forward as she stood in silence in front of it, fragments of her being slowly piecing together to form the girl she once was. She wished time would hurry up and pass faster, so that she'd be whole again, to speak to those she saw but couldn't meet. So, as the clock tower she once loved continued to torture her, she watched. And waited.

viii. Consciously or not, he'd made the choice. He could feel it, too. With every move he made, every word he spoke, he knew it wasn't his own. His body moved, but he couldn't force it to. His body was no longer his own. He could feel the other, living inside him, controlling him, and there was nothing he could do about it. He was trapped inside himself, and couldn't do a single thing about it.

ix. The separation was difficult. Painful. Nearly impossible. Yet somehow, they survived. They survived the first separation, survived the reuniting, then survived being torn apart once more. Two sides of the same coin, light and darkness, combined to make the original blade, and the separation cast them further apart than ever before. One to the darkness, drawing its strength to survive, and one to the light, laying in the throne in the bright castle, struggling to stay alive.

x. Everything changes and everything moves, on and on and on, but will always be the same. All share the same sky, beginning and ending in the one place where destiny is everything and nothing at the same time. Here, destiny is never left to chance.

xi. Two brought from the past, crystallized in the blades they once fought by and died by. Two from worlds now destroyed. Three now held between four cold walls, their light ripped away from them and with it their humanity.

xii. It was said that one who held the blade would be the great master's only downfall. It wasn't hard to destroy them all, and with them, his weakness.

xiii. Two old friends in a world someday consumed by darkness, both destined to be consumed by that same darkness as well. Two new friends in a world where the sun sets red, then three, then one. Four friends in a world duplicated. Then three, then one, then none.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright i swear this seems kinda confusing but this chapter is mostly for aesthetic purposes and if by the end of the story you can figure out what each of these means you get a gold star and if i can figure out how to dedicate individual chapters like you can/could on wattpad at one point you will get the next chapter dedicated to you (i.e. if you figure it out by chapter 10, you get a dedication in chapter 11)


	2. prologue, part 2: destiny's union

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> actual prologues!!!!!!!! wow!!!!!!!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is almost 3k words im in awe i never write this long of chapters

i. yen sid's tower

"Really? I'm a Keyblade Master?" Riku could barely comprehend what the elder master and his friends were already celebrating. Yen Sid's words from only seconds before echoed in his mind.

_"I believe we need a new Keyblade Master, one with a new kind of power."_

What kind of power did he have that Sora didn't? If it were up to Riku, his friend would have received the Mark of Mastery instead. Sora was the one who'd gone on so many adventures, saving the worlds more times than either of them could count. Actually, Riku probably could, but he wasn't about to say that, especially after passing the exam when it meant Sora had to lose. Which brought him back to his original point: he was a Keyblade Master now, which... Actually didn't seem like a good thing, given the reason why he was chosen over Sora.

_"...we must gird ourselves for the great clash with darkness that lies before us."_

He glanced over at Sora, who was busy bantering with Donald and Goofy, with his arm slung around Riku's shoulders and a bright smile on his face.

"Congratulations, Riku."

Riku knelt down, shaking the king's hand. "Thank you, Mickey." He turned to look back at Sora - "I owe it all to my friends."

This roused a cheer from the group, followed by a comment from the newest member of their group, who stood just outside the congratulatory circle that had formed around Riku.

"Ah, I'll catch up with you in no time flat," Lea remarked, crossing his arms proudly.

"What? You wanna be a Keyblade Master?" Sora asked, displaying the surprise Riku was too stunned to express.

"Yeah. I mean, I came here to learn how to wield one, after all."

" _You?_  " Sora and Riku shouted in unison, equally confused for once.

"Hey, thanks for the vote of confidence. You know, I was gonna come swooping in, keyblade in hand to save the day, but I just couldn't get it to materialize..." Lea briefly examined his hand, as if the secrets to the universe were hidden just under his gloves. "Must be in the snap of the wrist or something." He flicked his wrist out dramatically, the way both Riku and Sora had done before.

 _"We don't look like that when we do it, do we?"_ Riku thought, laughing to himself. But his thoughts were interrupted with the vaguely metallic ring of a keyblade forming.

"That's more like it!" Lea shouted, smirking as jaws dropped to the floor.

* * *

 

"Do ya really have ta go?" Goofy asked as Sora stood near the edge of the world.

"I just have some stuff to take care of, don't worry about it."

"Are you gonna be okay?" Donald asked, ignoring the "don't worry about it" portion like how he ignores Sora's need to be healed.

"Yeah." Sora stared off into the sunset. "I won't be long."

"Be careful," Mickey cautioned, and Riku added: " _Very_ careful."

"Right," Sora smiled, looking back at his friends. "See you soon!"

With a wave of his keyblade, he opened a portal back to the sleeping worlds, and was gone.

"So, what does a guy have to do to get some keyblade training around here?" Lea said from where he stood, leaning against the doorframe.

Riku grinned. "Mickey, Donald, Goofy, spread the word. We need keyblade wielders, as many as the worlds have."

 

ii. ? ? ?

He'd long since given up hope of eliminating the wielders. It was, admittedly, a plan that had not been well thought out - he'd seen the old records, he knew all prophecies eventually came to pass, as this, too, would come to pass. But perhaps, before it did, he could still achieve his goal.

His goal was no longer to rid the worlds of the pest that constantly foiled his plans. No, he needed the boy. In order to bring balance back to the worlds, as he had tried so many times already to do, he would need seven forces of light, and he was convinced that the boy would be on that list.

He laughed, a deep, ringing laugh that echoed throughout the room but would never reach the light of day.

Ironic - for a man who so badly desired balance, he sure was determined to remain surrounded by darkness.

 

iii. radiant garden

A round of laughter rang out from a table at one of the many outdoor cafes in the recently restored world.

"Hey, did you guys hear about the keyblade training?" A girl with pale pink hair asked the group.

Sipping his iced tea, the boy to her left brushed his bangs out of his face. "What kind of training?"

"Keyblade training!"

"Oh," he took another sip of iced tea, draining the cup to just ice. "Yeah, I heard about it. Why, you thinking of going?"

"Maybe! I mean, I do have a keyblade..."

"You do?" Another from the group asked, and rather loudly at that, as he stood up, slamming his hands down on the table excitedly.

"I do, too, Demy, I thought we already told you," he said, swirling the ice around in the cup.

"You probably did," the blonde shrugged. "But now you gotta show us! Please, Adrien?"

"I guess I have to, don't I?" He feigned annoyance, yet smiled as he stood from the table. He tossed the empty cup into a nearby trash can and glanced at the girl, who'd stood up as well. "Ready?"

"Am I ever not ready?" She grinned.

The two held their hands out in unison, and in a bright flash of light their keyblades materialized.

For a moment, silence, and then...

"Woah!" Demy shouted. "They're so cool!"

"Demy, you dumbass, you've seen keyblades before," a blonde girl just older than the others remarked from the other side of the table.

"I know, Relena, but they're just so cool!"

"You're going to say that every time you see one, aren't you?" She sighed.

"Probably."

"Fine, I guess they are pretty great," Relena agreed, however reluctantly. "Lumi?"

"What Demy said," the shy, pink-haired male agreed. "Cool."

"Just 'cool'?" She rolled her eyes. "I liked you better without a heart."

"Hey, we had-"

"Yes, Demy, I'm fully aware we had hearts. I was being an asshole, not anatomically correct."

Adrien and Brea found themselves giggling at the conversation between the three old friends. Just a few weeks ago, three people claiming to have been nobodies appeared in Radiant Garden - Demy, Relena, and Lumaria. The three easily fit in with Adrien and Brea. Demy especially had taken a liking to Adrien's favorite drink, paopu iced tea. Sure, it probably wasn't _real_ paopu - those probably weren't even real to begin with - but it was still good, and since Brea gave Adrien that gift card to the cafe five years ago, he had become completely addicted to the paopu iced teas.

Brea cleared her throat, interrupting the brief argument that had broken out. "So, back to the keyblade training, anyone interested?"

"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but you two are the only ones with keyblades," Relena commented.

"We're not sure about that!" Demy said.

"Sorry, you two _might_ _be_ the only ones with keyblades." Yet another eye roll.

"Thank you! I've been trying to see if I can summon one," Demy explained.

"Predictably, he can't," Relena added.

"Not yet, but I can feel it, I'll be able to soon!"

"Well, when you do, come join us. Training together would be so much fun!" Brea grinned.

"Wait, us?" Adrien asked.

"Yeah! You don't want to go?"

"I never said that."

"Then let's get going! See you guys around, maybe?" Brea said as she stood from the table.

"Definitely," Relena smiled, probably for the first time since they'd met.

"Bye!" Demy shouted, joined by a softer voice - Lumaria - saying the same thing.

"Ready?" Brea asked, looking over at Adrien as he'd done earlier.

"Am I ever not ready?"

The two pointed their keyblades at the sky, opening a portal to just where they needed to go.

As the two disappeared, another portal flashed in the sky above a nearby alleyway. The girl had been listening the whole time, hoping the wielders would lead her to the person she saw leaving the battleground earlier - and as she left through the portal, she had a feeling that they just might.

 

iv. realm of darkness

Pain raced through her body as she fought off what appeared to be the last of the heartless. They'd be back, though - they always came back, drawn towards the one source of light in this realm.

But as she continued her trek through the darkness, the heartless did not return. For a moment, she felt relief, followed by panic.

If they weren't being drawn to her, they were being drawn to something else.

_"I need to get out of here."_

 

v. somewhere far below the castle that never was

Down, down, down, staircases that seem endless and dim hallways. There are doors, but none have been opened in years. Chains across the doors in the shape of an x. There is no sound, until...

_"Lon lon la..."_

A slow, haunting voice rang out from within the deeper chambers of the hidden dungeon. It echoed off the cold walls, the only thing that could escape the bars that kept the song's source trapped,

_"Lon lon la, lon lon la, lire la, lon la, la, lon la..."_

She sang it every time he ventured down here. Perhaps as a cry for help.

_"Entendez-vous dans la plaine, ce bruit venant jusqu’à nous?"_

Maybe not. Maybe a reflection of how she felt.

_"On dirait un bruit de chaîne se traînant sur les cailloux..."_

How silly of him to think that. She didn't have feelings.

_"C’est le grand Lustukru qui passe, qui repasse et s’en ira emportant dans sa besace tous les petits gâs qui ne dorment pas..."_

She shouldn't even really be called a she, at this point. None of them did. You had to be human for that.

_"Lon lon la, lon lon la, lon lon la, lire la, lon la, la, lon la..."_

Finally he reached the hallway. Now, the song flowed clearly and loudly around him, perhaps more haunting than before.

_"Quelle est cette voix démente qui traverse nos volets? Non, ce n’est pas la tourmente qui joue avec les galets..."_

Another voice spoke out from a different cell, pushing the singing one to be quiet, but it did not comply.

_"C’est le grand Lustukru qui gronde, qui gronde, et bientôt rira..."_

He stopped for a moment in front of the cell of the singing one. Its voice shook as it sensed his presence, but did not look to him.

_"En ramassant à la ronde tous les petits gâs qui ne dorment pas..."_

He asked it about the song. Perhaps it was a lullaby, something learned in childhood.

_"Lon lon la, lon lon la, lon lon la, lire la, lon la, la, lon la..."_

Or perhaps not.

_"Qui donc gémit de la sorte, dans l’enclos, tout près d’ici?"_

The chains on the next cell over rattled, as did the bars. The experiment shouted at him, quite useless things. It said that they wouldn't stay down there forever, amongst other things littered with profanity.

_"Faudra-t-il donc que je sorte pour voir qui soupire ainsi?"_

Perhaps it was right. He paid the second experiment no more attention - not that he had in the first place, mind you - and stared into the cell of the third.

_"C’est le grand Lustukru qui pleure: il a faim et mangera crus-tout-vifs, sans pain ni beurre, tous les petits gâs qui ne dorment pas..."_

It sat against the cell's back wall, staring at the ground, unmoving. All signs said it was dead, but he knew better. In fact, he knew so well that he believed he might even have a job for his little failed experiments.

_"Lon lon la, lon lon la, lon lon la, lire la, lon la, la, lon la."_

 

vi. realm of sleep: traverse town

"That was the last one! Great job, guys!" Sora exclaimed, grinning at the Dream Eaters around him. His meow wow jumped up, pawing at his leg until he knelt down and rubbed its back.

He stopped for a moment. What was that?

It happened again, more audible this time but still faint.

No, he definitely heard a voice. Somehow, it seemed familiar... Maybe someone he'd met on one of his adventures?

" _Ven, I'm sorry... I might not make it back as soon as I thought. But I promise I'll be there, one day, to wake you up,"_ the voice said, clearly, echoing through the space surrounding Sora.

"Ven? Who's that..?" Sora asked, unsure if the voice was coming from nearby. He'd thought he was alone here, but... Maybe not.

Stranger things had happened before, so he wasn't about to rule that out.

_"Sora."_

The voice spoke again, but this time he swore it was from someone right in front of him.

"Who's there?" He called out, summoning his keyblade.

His meow wow ran up to him, rubbing up against his leg. Sora reached down to pet the Dream Eater as he looked around for the source of the voice, but it was gone.

 

vii. yen sid's tower

"Hey," Brea greeted the newest Keyblade Master, handing him a fresh ice pack. "Feeling any better?"

"Thanks." Riku grunted as he switched out the ice pack that rested between the chair and his lower back. "A little bit. Ice packs are definitely helping."

"When I heard about the Mark of Mastery, I never would have expected it to come with... You know, an actual mark!" Brea laughed.

"Don't remind me," Riku sighed. After Sora and the others had left, Yen Sid had performed a ritual to formally appoint Riku as keyblade master, part of which included a literal Mark of Mastery appearing on his lower back. It shot a searing pain through his entire body, and for the week after he could barely move. Luckily, by the time wielders who'd heard about his keyblade training arrived, he'd recovered enough to greet them standing up. However, he still spent most of the day sitting down and supervising the training sessions. "Good job, Lea!" He shouted.

"I know!" Riku could _hear_ Lea smirking as he blocked an attack from his sparring partner, Adrien.

"Yo, Brea, you ready?" Castor, one of the wielders, called.

"Yep!"

"Need me to call the start?" Riku asked the pair.

"Nah, I think we're g-woah!" Brea exclaimed, just barely blocking a hit from Castor.

"Sorry!"

"You're the one that's gonna be sorry!" Brea grinned. She could be very competitive, and had been a perfect match for Kairi, before she'd decided to return home to the Islands for a while.

Riku smiled at the four wielders. In the few weeks they'd been there, they'd all gotten pretty good. If only he'd been more mobile, he'd've been able to teach them a bit better. Fortunately, Kairi had stepped in to help him out, but they were still left with an odd number.

"This just arrived for you, Master Kupo," a moogle said to Riku as it handed him a letter.

He laughed, wincing slightly at the pain from the Mark as he took the letter from the moogle assistant Yen Sid had hired for him. "Thanks, Mog. You do realize you don't have to call me 'master', though, right? Riku's just fine."

"Alright, kupo!" Mog said, its wings fluttering as it walked back inside.

Riku carefully tore the envelope open, and the letter read:

_"Hey dork, how's training going? I really miss being there with you. Oh, by the way, Sora's back, and if you don't come back too I'll have to personally drag your ass back here so he doesn't get disappointed._

_Hugs and kisses, Kairi"_

Riku suddenly coughed very loudly. When did Sora get back? And why didn't he come to the tower first?

"Wow, you're really good! You sure you haven't had any secret practice sessions with Master Riku you're not telling us about?" Brea winked, sweat dripping down her forehead as she and Castor stood, recovering from the practice fight.

Immediately, Riku felt his face heat up.

"What? No, definitely not! I've had just as much training as you guys, probably even less, if we're being honest!" Castor declared, his face red from both the question and the battle.

"Sure, whatever you say," Brea shrugged. "Hey, Riku, everything alright?"

Riku cleared his throat. "Yeah, I just... Think I need some time off. Recovery from the Mark, and all. Probably go back home to the Islands for a few days." He stood, cringing at the pain burning through his lower back. "While I'm gone, Lea's in charge."

"Hell yeah!" Lea shouted, jabbing his keyblade into the air.

"Really?" Adrien sighed.

"What, would you rather I leave the moogle in charge?"

In perfect unison, the three wielders shouted a resounding "YES!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this is where i found the song "the experiment" was singing](http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/can-anyone-help-with-a-scary-french-lullaby/) (I promise there'll be more of those three later in the story, along with a better explanation)
> 
> and there we have the end of the prologue, prepare for like..... some actual writing, coming up soon


	3. the promised beginning

"Kairi, Kairi, Kairi!! Wake up, wake up, wake up!!!" Sora chanted, bursting through his friend's bedroom window and tackling her off the bed.

"Jesus fuck shit, Sora, I know Riku's back today but for fuck's sake, I was _sleeping_ ," Kairi grumbled from the floor, blanket vigorously wrapped around her pajama-clad form.

 _"LANGUAGE, KAI-KAI!!"_ Kairi's younger sister, Umi's muffled shout came from the room beside hers.

"FUCK OFF, I JUST WOKE UP. And fuck you, Riku's probably not even going to be here till later anyway."

"Yeah, but–"

"No buts, aside from yours back out the window you came in through," Kairi said, pushing Sora back onto the bed and up through the window. "And next time, use the goddamn door, like a _normal_ person."

"But Kairi, –"

"No. Nothing else. Go confess your ten-years-running crush to Riku while I get my marginally-okay-appearance sleep."

"You mean beauty sleep?" Sora asked, standing on the ledge just outside Kairi's window.

"No, I don't. Goodnight, fuckass."

And with that, Kairi shut her window, refusing to hear Sora's desperate explanation that it was mid-morning.

"So, Sora, what's this I hear about a ten-year-running crush?"

Sora turned suddenly, almost falling off the roof as his gaze scanned the surrounding area, eyes eventually landing on his silver-haired friend. "Riku!" He shouted, jumping from the ledge and sprinting as fast as he could towards his childhood friend. Sora's running momentum dissipated as he crashed into Riku, who stumbled backwards, catching himself against a shady wall.

"Nice to see you, too, Sora," he laughed, reciprocating the hug. "But don't think you distracted me, I'm still waiting on an explanation for that _'crush'_ Kairi mentioned."

Sora could sense Kairi smirking in her probably-fake sleep. "Yeahhhh, about that..."

"I'm kidding, Sora. You don't have to explain. Why else do you think I came back here? I love you, Sora, I always have." Riku caught a moment's glimmer in the younger boy's eyes as he ruffled his spiky hair and pulled him in for a kiss.

Kairi wolf-whistled from her window, leaning on the windowsill, to which Riku promptly responded by flipping her off.

"Wow, uh, um, I mean... Wow," Sora said, out of breath.

Riku smiled. "So, what grand adventure do you have planned for us today?"

"Oh! Right! Well, the ice cream shop sells sea salt ice cream now!"

"Sea salt ice cream? What's that?"

"You've never had it before? Well, you see, it's a thing they have in Twilight Town– that's a world I went to one time, we should really go back there– and they have them on popsicle sticks, but I don't know if they'll have them like that here, or if they'll put them in bowls, or– oh! Maybe on cones! Anyway, with the ones in Twilight Town, sometimes you get a stick with that says 'winner' on it, and there's a little crown, and..." Sora continued on, eyes shining brighter than the sun above as he led Riku, hand in hand, down the unpaved road into town.

* * *

 

The sharp ringling of the bell sounded through the ice cream shop, and the shop owner called out, "What can I get you boys today?"

Sora, refusing to let go of Riku's hand or step too far away from him as if he would lose him if he did, held up two fingers from his free hand. "Two sea salt ice creams, please and thank you!"

Riku grinned at Sora's enthusiasm. That was why he loved him, after all – the stark contrast between the two had been what initially attracted them to each other, but over the years, they'd grown closer than they ever thought possible.

The clashing of change brought Riku back to reality, and just in time for him to grab the bowl of ice cream from the shop owner, who flashed them a bright smile – although not as bright as Sora's as he held the waffle cone topped with pastel blue ice cream. The two sat at a table in front of a window, holding hands as they started on their ice cream. The bright summer sun threatened to melt the ice cream, but neither cared. They were more focused on each other than their quickly-melting ice creams, lips pressed together in sticky, sweet kisses.

So focused, that when the sky out the window behind them began to fall dark, neither took notice. The darkening clouds split paths to show a quickly forming gash across the sky, through which wisps of darkness began to flow through.

"Sora! Riku!" Kairi called, sprinting down the road to the ice cream shop, voice muffled and distorted to the couple's ears. "Can you hear me?"

The two turned from each other and towards the window, the world moving in slow motion as the glass cracked and shattered, the force of the explosion knocking Riku's ice cream off the table and spilling onto the floor. The glass shards seem to bounce off of them, however; and when the blast settled they rushed outside, keyblades manifesting as they stood to either side of Kairi.

"What's going on?" Sora asked, a concerned look on his face as he glances around rapidly.

"Just making an educated guess here, but I'd say it has something to do with –" Riku gestured towards the growing rift in the sky with his keyblade – "that."

Defined shapes begin to appear in the dark mass pouring from the rift - heartless, massive heartless larger than any they'd seen before.

 _"Fuck,"_ Kairi muttered, grinding her teeth with masked anxiety.

The gigantic heartless began to fill and cover the sky, until a distant figure appeared, breaking the dark horizon and shattering the shadows as it descended. The three stared in awe as the figure, now clearly a human, launched itself across the sky, using the invading heartless as platforms. As the cloudlike heartless above them dissipated, the figure dropped to the ground, landing on one knee as the scarce sunlight glinted across a metallic arm holding up a keyblade. They stood, combing their hair back with their flesh hand, scanning their eyes across the trio and the wreckage.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Sora and Riku looked on in shock, but their jaw drops paled in comparison to Kairi's starry-eyed gaze at the scarred and scratched woman.

Sora took a step forward, shaking off his surprise and starting, "Hey, no offense, but–"

"Who are you?" Kairi asked, voice devoid of hostility and instead spilling with wonder and amazement.

"Save the introductions for later. Right now, all you need to know is I'm here to save your asses."

"We can–" Riku began, immediately being faced with an interruption.

"–Save yourselves, I'm aware. You look perfectly capable, but I've been dealing with these things for... What year is it? Never mind, that doesn't matter. You kids take the A-Classes, I'll handle the others."

"A-Classes? Wha–" Before Sora could ask, she was off, ricocheting off nearby structures to launch herself back into the fray up above.

Before confusion could set in, shadow heartless began to spawn around them, sending the trio into instinctual fight mode. Back to back the three fought the incoming enemies, keyblades and magic flying through the air around them as bit by bit the darkness above faded, the spilling darkness ceased, and the wounded sky closed.

The blue-haired stranger descended once more, collapsing to her knees. But this time, she didn't get back up.

"Hey, hey, we got you," Sora said, rushing over to take her arm over his shoulders. "Kairi, a little help here?"

Still starstruck, Kairi lifted the armor-clad arm onto her own shoulders. "Alright, here we go..." she said, the three standing simultaneously. "Back to my house, okay?"

Riku joined them, holding Sora's hand and supporting her shoulder as well. The four began the trek back up the hill and into the village, stumbling into Kairi's house once they got there.

"What's going on?" Umi asked, running down the staircase to meet them. "Kai, who's this?"

"Umi, get me a couple blankets from the cupboard," Kairi instructed, shifting the metal above her shoulders with a grimace.

"And water," the woman added, her voice hoarse and dry.

"And water!" Kairi called to her sister. "Okay, we're gonna set you down now, in one, two, _three..!"_

The three lowered her to the ground, and Umi came rushing in with a full gallon-pitcher of water and a stack of blankets a mile high. Kairi held her head up as Sora put a few blankets down as a pillow, and Riku knelt beside her, tendrils of healing magic reaching out like an extension of himself and tending to the stranger's many wounds.

After sitting up a bit to drink some water, she said, "Aqua."

"What was that?" Riku asked, continuing to work on her wounds.

"My name. Aqua. You asked earlier."

"Ahem," Kairi interrupted, clearing her throat. " _I_ asked."

"Right, _my_ bad," Riku rolled his eyes.

"You..." she said, reaching up to him with her scratched-up armor. "You have the mark, don't you?"

"Y-yeah, actually, how could you tell?"

"I have it too. On my back. Also, I saw part of yours earlier during the fight."

"Oh," he blushed.

Sora fought the urge to lean over and kiss Riku's flushed cheeks, but knew it would distract him from his magic.

"So, Aqua," Sora cleared his throat. "You mentioned something called 'A-Classes' earlier, then a bunch of heartless appeared. What was that about?"

"Oh, right. It's just a classification system I made for the... heartless, as you call them. Helped keep me sane."

"Sane?" Kairi asked, leaning forward in her chair.

"Let me ask you something, kid," Despite Riku's protests, Aqua rolled onto her side to face Kairi. "You ever been in the Realm of Darkness?"

" _That's_ where you were?" Sora exclaimed. "Yeah, I've been there. So what?"

"Clearly you weren't there as long as I was, or you wouldn't be saying 'so what'. Judging by the year marker calendar over there–" she pointed with her armor towards the calendar hanging on the wall beside a framed photo of Kairi and Umi– "I spent twelve years in there. Almost to the date, oddly enough. I only got out 'cause the walls are breaking and that one got bad enough to rip open."

"Holy shit."

"Ditto, kid. So, this is Destiny Island, right?"

" _Islands_ , actually. With an S," Sora corrected.

"Island, islands, whatever. Point is, the barrier I set is gonna break at some point, probably sooner rather than later, and this place is gonna be darkness ground zero."

"Well, what should we do?"

  
"There's only one thing we _can_ do. We fight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah the queen is back and kairi has a little sister (anyone catch how kairi and umi's names are both ocean-related and japanese?)


End file.
